Glacier Chiller Not Living Up To Expectations

[Benkg43]

We just had our pool built. We got a GPC-210 Glacier pool chiller. The pool is 15k gallons. I live in Houston. Right now it's getting up to ~100 degrees almost ever day. My pool is fully exposed to the sun -- no shade until ~5pm. Without the chiller the pool will get up to 90 degrees. If I run the chiller from 9am until 2:30pm (2:30pm is when the pool temp seems to peak), I can keep it to 88 or 89. If I don't run the chiller overnight the pool will naturally cool to 85 degrees. If I run the chiller all night the pool will get to 82 or 83.

When the chiller is on I can feel cooler water coming out of the returns, but it only lasts for ~15-30 seconds, and then I have a couple of minutes of normal temp water before cooler water returns again for another 15-30 seconds.

The pool builder did not plumb it to the bottom of the pool like you should with a new pool build. Rather, they plumbed it into the suction side of the pump, which I believe is standard for existing pools. Not sure if that choice is having any impact on the results I'm seeing.

In my opinion, the chiller isn't living up to it's name. I'm trying to figure out if my results are normal for my climate and for this time of year or if I should be holding the pool builder accountable for my lackluster results.

Any advice is very much appreciated.

 

[remedy]

Benkg,
I installed a glacier chiller last summer. It is very relative humidity dependent. I run mine from 8am until 7-8pm as needed. We have had a spell of high 90s temps here in SC and my pool temps reach 86-87 when air temps are in high 90s-low 100s. This is with very high humidities. I had to turn it off one day last week when we had very low humidity. It cooled the pool to 83 which is on the cool side for us. I have mine plumbed like yours and my pool is in full Sun all day. My pool temp will get into the low 90s if I don’t run it. I am very satisfied with mine.

 

[mknauss]

Remember that it is an evaporative cooler. If the relative humidity of the outside air is much above 70%, it is not going to work very well.

 

[Benkg43]

Benkg,
I installed a glacier chiller last summer. It is very relative humidity dependent. I run mine from 8am until 7-8pm as needed. We have had a spell of high 90s temps here in SC and my pool temps reach 86-87 when air temps are in high 90s-low 100s. This is with very high humidities. I had to turn it off one day last week when we had very low humidity. It cooled the pool to 83 which is on the cool side for us. I have mine plumbed like yours and my pool is in full Sun all day. My pool temp will get into the low 90s if I don’t run it. I am very satisfied with mine.

I've heard others say they run it at night and are able to get the temp into the 70s. But your logic of running it during the day makes more sense to me, since it doesn't seem to matter how cool I get it at night as once the sun comes out the pool immediately starts heating up. Running it during the day to fight the temp rise is something I have been doing, though only from 9am to 2:30pm, since 2:30pm seems to be when the temp tops out in my pool. Maybe I should extend that runtime a bit during the day. I'm still bummed that I can't get it into the 70s at night. I recognize I'm fighting some really hot temps here, and with no shade, but it's a real bummer to have spent $$ on a solution that isn't delivering to my original expectations. My pool builder said, "don't run it too long at night or you'll end up with a pool that's too cold." That statement is now laughable and frustrating.

 

[remedy]

I've heard others say they run it at night and are able to get the temp into the 70s. But your logic of running it during the day makes more sense to me, since it doesn't seem to matter how cool I get it at night as once the sun comes out the pool immediately starts heating up. Running it during the day to fight the temp rise is something I have been doing, though only from 9am to 2:30pm, since 2:30pm seems to be when the temp tops out in my pool. Maybe I should extend that runtime a bit during the day. I'm still bummed that I can't get it into the 70s at night. I recognize I'm fighting some really hot temps here, and with no shade, but it's a real bummer to have spent $$ on a solution that isn't delivering to my original expectations. My pool builder said, "don't run it too long at night or you'll end up with a pool that's too cold." That statement is now laughable and frustrating.

I think you could reach those temps running at night in a low humidity area like Az or Nv. Very unlikely in the southeast.

 

[Toxophilite]

Evaporative cooling is limited here in our area due to high humidity. There are times of the year where you might get better results, but also, those might be the times you need it least.

With this drought, I'm running my irrigation and sprinkler hoses many hours, and with well water being a constant 62-degrees, I'd love to be able to exchange off that differential somehow.

 

[Benkg43]

I think you could reach those temps running at night in a low humidity area like Az or Nv. Very unlikely in the southeast.

Good to know. I'd be interested to hear what those in Houston, or Houston-like climates, are seeing as the lowest temp they're able to achieve with their chillers.

 

[flynwill]

The number to pay attention to in your local weather forecasts is the "dew point" as that will be a pretty good indicator of the coolest the chiller water can get.

 

[Mayorb]

I'm in Houston, and don't see these many of these out there.
But it would seem to me if they were effective (in high humidity) they'd be as ubiquitous on pools here as AC is in cars. They'd absolutely be standard equipment.
It would be nice if they had a temperature/humidity graph for them the way pumps have curve charts.

 

[Toxophilite]

I'm in Houston, and don't see these many of these out there.
But it would seem to me if they were effective (in high humidity) they'd be as ubiquitous on pools here as AC is in cars. They'd absolutely be standard equipment.
It would be nice if they had a temperature/humidity graph for them the way pumps have curve charts.

Old-timers, older than this old-timer, have told me that evaporative cooling was heavily tried here way before A/C was around. Heck, I grew up here in the 60's and few had A/C, our house included. Anyways, was told it was a short lived conversion, as they found they couldn't keep the wall paper on the walls.

 

[duraleigh]

"Swamp coolers" (evaporative) were around AND effective for decades. Importantly, their energy usage was almost zero. I am not sure why they went away in the dry states of the Southwest.

Not to hijack this thread but evaporative cooling can be done with a pool fountain and is free and quite effective in most states. You can google it on this forum and get plenty of feedback

 

[jark87]

I’m in DFW, so not quite at humid as your environment, but still humid. My pool is 25,500 gallons and I also have the GPC-210. It keeps the water at least 8-10° cooler. Our pool is surrounded by trees, but there’s a gap in the canopy where the pool is that tracks with the sun. (I designed it that way purposefully not realizing how warm the water would get.) Prior to the chiller, our pool temp would hit mid-90s by early July. With the chiller, pool temp stays below 85°. We’ve had a string of 100°+ days and the warmest it has reached is 83°. Current low air temp at night is only 80°, so I’m pretty happy with that. If we get a cool front with low humidity, the pool can easily get too cold - mid-70s - but I don’t mind because those temps don’t last long here.

I run the chiller from 3am - 8pm every day, unless we’re out of town. If I let the pool warm up, it can take 2-3 days to get the water back into the low 80s.

One thing you may want to check is the speed of your wands. I keep my at a “fast walk” speed. Too fast and you don’t get the same cooling effect. Too slow and it seems that there’s either not enough water being cooled or there’s too much time between pump cycles to be as effective.

My chiller was installed after the pool was built, so there’s no dedicated return for the chiller. Still works just fine. There are other members here in the Houston area that have the Glacier. Hopefully, they’ll chime in. Hope you get it working for you!

 

[Toxophilite]

"Swamp coolers" (evaporative) were around AND effective for decades. Importantly, their energy usage was almost zero. I am not sure why they went away in the dry states of the Southwest.

Not to hijack this thread but evaporative cooling can be done with a pool fountain and is free and quite effective in most states. You can google it on this forum and get plenty of feedback

I used to run a center fountain when I had a 24' round AB. Even if it didn't drop the overall water temp too much in mid-August, it made all the difference in surface water feel and ambient feel while swimming.

 

[jark87]

But it would seem to me if they were effective (in high humidity) they'd be as ubiquitous on pools here as AC is in cars. They'd absolutely be standard equipment.

I couldn’t agree more. Whenever I meet someone who has or is building a pool in the DFW area, I always ask about sun exposure. If high, I recommend they at least research a chiller. It was by far the best investment I’ve made in our pool because we can now enjoy it all summer instead of no one swimming after July 4. Only negative is water consumption. I have my fill line coming on 2x per week to keep up with the evaporation.

 

[Benkg43]

I’m in DFW, so not quite at humid as your environment, but still humid. My pool is 25,500 gallons and I also have the GPC-210. It keeps the water at least 8-10° cooler. Our pool is surrounded by trees, but there’s a gap in the canopy where the pool is that tracks with the sun. (I designed it that way purposefully not realizing how warm the water would get.) Prior to the chiller, our pool temp would hit mid-90s by early July. With the chiller, pool temp stays below 85°. We’ve had a string of 100°+ days and the warmest it has reached is 83°. Current low air temp at night is only 80°, so I’m pretty happy with that. If we get a cool front with low humidity, the pool can easily get too cold - mid-70s - but I don’t mind because those temps don’t last long here.

I run the chiller from 3am - 8pm every day, unless we’re out of town. If I let the pool warm up, it can take 2-3 days to get the water back into the low 80s.

One thing you may want to check is the speed of your wands. I keep my at a “fast walk” speed. Too fast and you don’t get the same cooling effect. Too slow and it seems that there’s either not enough water being cooled or there’s too much time between pump cycles to be as effective.

My chiller was installed after the pool was built, so there’s no dedicated return for the chiller. Still works just fine. There are other members here in the Houston area that have the Glacier. Hopefully, they’ll chime in. Hope you get it working for you!

Last week they emptied my pool to wet sand the plaster due to the pool being more "rough and jagged" than "textured" like it was supposed to be. Upon filling the pool back up I am seeing a difference in water pressure being returned to the pool -- it's notably less. Unfortunately that impacted the chiller too, as the chiller isn't getting enough flow for the wands to run fast. I'm only getting a walk speed, and that's with the intake wide open. I'm waiting on my pool builder to weigh in on what the issue could be. I've cleaned the filter, skimmer baskets, pump basket, and checked the pump impeller for debris. The slower-than-expected flow remains. That said... good to know I may get better results on getting the wands to move at a fast walk. I'll make that change once the return pressure issue is resolved. Also I'll give the 3am - 8pm runtime a a try.

 

[Benkg43]

The number to pay attention to in your local weather forecasts is the "dew point" as that will be a pretty good indicator of the coolest the chiller water can get.

Right now the dew point is 67 degrees. That's not a number I EVER pay attn to, but I will now. That said, I can't even get my pool to 80 degrees, much less 67!

 

[Benkg43]

"Swamp coolers" (evaporative) were around AND effective for decades. Importantly, their energy usage was almost zero. I am not sure why they went away in the dry states of the Southwest.

Not to hijack this thread but evaporative cooling can be done with a pool fountain and is free and quite effective in most states. You can google it on this forum and get plenty of feedback

Agreed. We have 3 scuppers. I'd like to figure out a way to attach some PVC-created sprayers to them in such a way where I could easily attach/detach them at will. This would allow me to go back-and-forth between the scuppers and PVC-driven poolside evaporative cooling.

 

[jark87]

I tried the PVC misters but they didn’t do much - maybe a 2-3° drop. I didn’t particularly like the look (my wife hated them) and the spray would blow into the surrounding plants and was killing them. That said, I never tried them in conjunction with the chiller.

 

[Benkg43]

I've been running the chiller since this morning when the pool temp was 82 degrees. It's now 89 degrees. I know if I didn't run it at all it'd be more like 90 or 91 degrees right now, but good grief that's a lot of electricity to use to fight off only a couple of degrees. I recognize the chiller doesn't use much energy, but the pump running @ 100% sure does!

 

[GrandLSU]

I've been running the chiller since this morning when the pool temp was 82 degrees. It's now 89 degrees. I know if I didn't run it at all it'd be more like 90 or 91 degrees right now, but good grief that's a lot of electricity to use to fight off only a couple of degrees. I recognize the chiller doesn't use much energy, but the pump running @ 100% sure does!

I'm in Baton Rouge (similar climate to you), and the results that I am seeing from my Glacier chiller mirror your results almost exactly. Also, although my chiller was installed during the original pool construction, like you my pool builder installed the chiller according to the "existing pool" instructions with the chiller's output tying into the suction side of the pump.

This is my first summer using the pool post construction so I haven't had the chiller for that long, but nonetheless I have had a chance to do some pretty detailed testing with the chiller. So far I have found that by running the chiller constantly from 3:30 p.m. on day 1 until 3:30 p.m. on day 2 (i.e. running the chiller 24 hours continuously), it results in the pool being from 1 degree to 3 degrees cooler at 3:30 p.m. on day 2 than had I not run the chiller at all (and the 3 degrees is a best case scenario -- its usually closer to 1 to 2 degrees). I agree that is not a lot of cooling considering how much it is costing me in electricity to run the filter pump at full speed during that time. I am not happy with these results so far.